Do You Know What The Thin Blue Line Means?

The symbol has been around for a long time, but do you really know what it means? I wanted to understand more about this image that is appearing more given the recent tragic events, so I began digging into the world of Google.

Curiously, there are several ideas about its meaning.

According to Wikipedia, it came to being in Britain and is widely recognized here in the United States and Canada as a sign of the community of law enforcement as the protector of the public from the criminal element.

One site suggests that the blue line represents law enforcement officers, and the black bars on the top and bottom represent the good and the bad, decency and lawlessness. They stand sentry between the two to maintain order and protect against harm. It references a 1988 documentary of the same name. The author mentions the differing opinions about what the black on the symbol represent, but notes that there is little variance about the blue line representing the law enforcement community.

Another meaning that appears to be widely accepted for the thin blue line on the black background is that it represents the law enforcement community mourning the loss of one of its own.

Unfortunately, they are wearing that blue line across black bars too often these days.